Sunday, October 30, 2011

Washing Machine with update!

Update! The washing machine is fixed! The installers took the shipping bar out prior to putting it in the house. They are not supposed to do that. So the tub slid to one side and was caught. The GE guy fixed it, it took 1 min. I now really like the machine! It cleans fast and it seems to do a good job. Of course it did not get all of the gunk out of Celia's white shirt that had been sitting in our laundry basket since Friday. I think that she sometimes uses her shirts as plates...

2 months ago our washing machine stopped spinning, rendering it basically useless. I found myself hand washing my cloth diapers that day as I was in the middle of a wash. It took us 3 or 4 days to get someone to take a look at it. We have a home warranty so it was not that expensive to have someone look at it at least. The repairman determined it was the motor and unfortunately it would take 7 to 10 days to get it. 10 days later, many trips back and forth to our amazing neighbor's house to do laundry, our new motor arrived. A few days later I noticed leaking under our utility sink. I blamed it on Pete as he had just cleaned out his fishing cooler in the sink and admitted that he spilled a lot of water. I cleaned up and then later in the day the water returned. So not the sink, it was leaking from the washing machine. So... Another phone call to the warranty company, another service call. The tub was cracked, apparently the new motor was too powerful.
Okay.... So now we move on to getting a new washer, completely covered by the warranty company. The model they offered me was a top loader but very energy efficient and even took HE detergent. I looked at the reviews and the fact that it takes more time to actually wash clothes in these type of machines and was not impressed. Having to spend more time with wash was not appealing. So I found a washing machine that seemed to have good reviews, did not take the extra wash time and had a second rinse feature which is awesome for cloth diapers. The problem, because my warranty company viewed it is a downgrade ( technically it was not as the one they offered was most certainly a more energy efficient model then we had) I had to sign a special letter. So frustrated at this situation, I found a solution to having to find a way to fax or scan the emailed letter back. I took a picture of the signed letter, loaded it to a word document, and sent it off. No problem. The washing machine was ordered and delivered this past Monday.
The washing machine looked fine but unfortunately the outlet we needed to use, the one that was working an hour prior to the installation was no longer working. So we used an extension cord and plugged it in somewhere else. It appeared to work fine. 5 minutes after the installers left I started with my mountain of laundry, only to find that the machine went bananas every time it spun. I looked at the features and laughed at all of the "machine is whisper quiet during this mode". Finally I decided this was not normal and called GE. I was told that the only reason for this would be if the machine was not leveled or if the shipping bar was kept on. So more waiting for a repairman to come and deal with it. By the way GE was not willing to send anyone to look at it, they finally got rid of me by giving me a number to call. It was the home depot... I had to call my warranty company who told me it was the same service company we had been dealing with who installed the machine. So they sent them back, no charge of course, but another day waiting for repairmen between 1 and 5 who always came after 5. That repairman determined that it was not a leveling issue, it was missing bolts that hold the tub in place. We were told not to use it. So I called GE again on Thursday and was told that they could not send anyone out until Monday and that if it was not covered by warranty then there would be a service fee. What?? I sort of lost it at that point. Our warranty company did tell me that they will deal with it if that is the case.

So tomorrow for the umpteenth time I am stuck waiting for a repairman between 1 and 5. It is Halloween and I really do not want to wait past 5! If the guy does not have the bolts with him then he is likely going to see me throw a mini tantrum because I am done having laundry piled all over and waiting for repairmen.